Day 324

While I was walking the dogs this morning we saw a jogger approaching with two unleashed dogs. A guy ahead of me on the trail saw the same dogs approaching and we both pulled our dogs off to the side and put them in a sit stay. When the runner passed, he started screaming at both of us. "What's the matter with you people," he yelled. "Do you think we're going to hurt you?" "My dogs are trained." I felt like telling him that he was the one in the wrong here. There are city ordinance signs all over the park saying that all dogs must be on a leash at all times. I felt like telling him that three years ago, one of my dogs was attacked and almost killed by a loose dog in this same park. I was badly bitten too. To this day, I carry a solid steel billy club with me on our walks in case this ever happens again. I felt like telling this guy he was an asshole, but I didn't because this is Texas.

In a state where even little old ladies on their way to church are carrying pistols, you usually think twice before engaging angry idiots in conversation. There's a good chance you'll get shot. If I ever see this guy screaming at people with his loose dogs again, I'm going to turn him into the city though. The bureaucracy loves to make life miserable for arrogant idiots like this.

I decided to get my blood work done today before I ate anything, since I didn't feel like cooking breakfast. I'm supposed to be taking employee pictures up at the clinic tomorrow anyway and it would be easier if they weren't drawing my blood at the same time. After the nurse got all the blood she needed, I drove over to the Broken Egg Cafe and had a big breakfast of bacon, biscuits and gravy and Belgian waffles. I like to treat myself to forbidden food after a visit to the doctor. I don't go to the doctor all that often, so I figure it couldn't hurt much.

The Paypal folks continue to shower me with nifty tools to help Dalmatian Rescue raise money on the Internet. Nobody has used the donation tool I put on the blog yet, but maybe they will someday. Today, Paypal introduced me to MicroPlace. I'll have to admit that although I've occasionally read a few things about Kiva, I really didn't know that much about the whole concept of microfinance. When I visited the MicroPlace website, I was really impressed. The whole thing is designed to allow any individual to make small loans to people in third world countries where a loan of as little as $200 can make the difference between success and failure for many people. Sure, there is no guarantee that your loan will be paid back, but in a world where CitiBank has been taken over by the government and General Motors can go bankrupt, these humble little investments seem as safe a bet as any. I'm going to explore the investment opportunities on the MicroPlace site further when I get the time and invest in a few things myself. I really like the whole idea of MicroPlace.

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